As far as Christmas Carols go, my favorite is George C Scott -- I love the period specificity, and Scott's bombast. But my family always watches A Christmas Story -- we've been Jean Shepherd fans since long before the recent popularity of the film. When I was young, we went out for Chinese food every Christmas Eve, so the final scene always makes me snicker.

I sawThe Bishop's Wife recently and enjoyed it considerably more than I thought I would. (Loretta Young not being a raving fave of mine and I thought the whole Cary-Grant-as-an-angel premise dubious. But it works!)

It's not a holiday movie, but I've always associated The Sound of Music, a guilty pleasure of mine, with this time of year because of the annual ABC broadcast. I could watch it on DVD free of commercials, but upholding tradition is important.

I also enjoy a viewing of The Ref as an antidote to too much holiday cheer. Also Christmas Holiday.

Traditional Christmas favorites I'm not that crazy about: Miracle on 34th Street, It's a Wonderful Life.

"Christmas in Connecticut" with Barbara Stanwyck, an actress I adore and "The Shop Around the Corner". When we celebrate Christmas with my sister and her family there will always be a showing of "The Dead", John Huston directing Angelica Huston.

"The Dead" couldn't hope to be as good as the original story but it was made with love and reverence for it and one respects that. I never thought of it as a Christmas movie but I think it's an excellent choice and will keep it in mind for next year - although it's important to read the story first.

The holiday ritual of watching the movie has probably robbed it of some of its force. The movie is not only darker than is generally supposed, but also very frank in its treatment of family relationships (e.g. sibling rivalry, the fraught relationship between father and son). And the movie is especially frank in its treatment of the intimate relationship between man and woman.

For instance, there's a wonderful moment in the film where George arrives at the Granville House the night of his honeymoon. It's raining, and George enters the threshhold of the house, where he is greeted by Mary, wearing an apron and fixing up dinner. There's a POV shot from George's perspective: the camera pans to an open door, through which George glimpses laid out on the bed his pajamas and Mary's nightgown. The scene would be remarkable enough if it stopped here, with its delicate promise of sex. But the scene doesn't fade to black immediately. The camera registers George and Mary's expressions: George's astonishment, and Mary's care and solicitude. To use a cliche, the scene isn't about sex so much as the emotions which go along w/ sex, and this makes the scene very intimate indeed.